Offering of Suffering

St. Paul speaks of true joy in his letter to the Colossians: "I rejoice in my sufferings for our sake" (Col l:24). A sense of joy is found in the overcoming of the sense of uselessness of suffering. A feeling that is sometimes very strongly rooted in human suffering. This feeling not only consumes the person interiorly, but seems to make him a burden to otheres. The person feels condemned to receive help and assistance from others and, at the same time, seems useless to himself. The discovery of the salvific meaning of suffering in union with Christ transforms this depressing feeling. Faith in sharing in the suffering of Christ brings with it the certainty that the suffering person "completes what is lacking in Christ's afflictions;" the certainty that in the spiritual dimension of the work of redemption he is serving, like Christ, in the spiritual salvation of his brothers and sisters. Therefore, he is carrying out an irreplaceable service." - Pope John Paul II